colonize
/ˈkɑlənaɪz/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 2.78 in modern English
19
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To intrude into and take over (the autonomy, experience, social movement, etc, of a less powerful person or group); to commandeer or appropriate.
Transitive verb
Example Sentences
- "When you are colonized by dangerous bacteria their presence in your body does no damage. You become a reservoir for those little stinkers."
- "The administration finally sent a naval vessel to return the 368 survivors to the United States in 1864. This ended official efforts to colonize blacks."
- "What disservice would be done if issues regarding sexualities in organisations were side-lined by a heteronormative impetus to colonise queer theory?"
- "For slavery aimed not only to colonize black women's bodies, sex, and sexuality, to undermine her, it sought to subvert and destroy any authentic relationship between black women and black men as well as among black women themselves."
- "[…] suggesting that organisational discourses of heteronormativity cannot fully colonise gay sexualities and genders."
- "The burden of judgment imposed by the politics of respectability can easily colonize black minds."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *kʷelh₁- Proto-Indo-European *-eti Proto-Indo-European *kʷélh₁eti Proto-Italic *kʷelō Latin colō Latin colōnus Proto-Indo-European *-(i)yós Proto-Italic *-ijos Proto-Italic *-ios Old Latin -ios Latin -ius Latin -ia Latin colōniader. Middle English colane English colony Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íd͏̌d͏̌ō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō)bor. Late Latin -izōder. Middle French -iserbor. Middle English -isen English -ize English colonize From colony + -ize.
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈkɑlənaɪz/
- British English: /ˈkɒlənaɪz/